Company asks court to overturn ruling on South Portland pipeline law

Portland Pipe Line Corp. has appealed the federal court decision issued in August preventing it from piping oil south from Canada to its tank farm in South Portland.

The Bangor Daily News reported that lawyers for the company on Wednesday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to overturn Judge John Woodcock's August decision upholding South Portland's 2014 "Clear Skies" ordinance banning bulk crude oil imports into the city.

The company disputes Woodcock's ruling that the ordinance does not violate the U.S. Constitution — arguing that because it prevents Portland Pipe Line Corp. from reversing the flow of its 236-mile pipeline between Montreal and South Portland, the ordinance violates constitutional protections of interstate and international commerce.

The appeal is the latest in a series of legal skirmishes between the pipeline company and the city that have occurred since the Clear Skies ordinance was enacted in 2014. Portland Pipe Line, a Maine corporation, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Montreal Pipe Line.

BDN reported that City Manager Scott Morelli called the appeal disappointing, adding that the the city's lawyer in the case, Jonathan Ettinger of Boston, expressed confidence the First Circuit would uphold the district court decision.